Featured Artist

We are very pleased to feature the works of Gregory Jundanian through August. Greg is a photographic artist focusing on documentary and portraiture. His works have been seen in exhibits with the Vermont Center for Photography, The Photographic Resource Center/Boston and the Umbrella Arts Gallery/NYC. His The Spoken Word, project which is a thought provoking collection of portraits built collaborating with Boston area poets was featured in a solo show of at the South End Boston Public Library

(Please click on the images above to view them in a slideshow menu)

Cuts, Clippers and Combs, the Neighborhood Haircut

In Cuts, Clippers and Combs... Greg has placed his lens into the intimate culture of barbershops in the Boston area. The barbershop can be seen as a meeting place, a familial den where one can relax and be at ease within a neighborhood. A cultural oasis where traditionally gentlemen can enjoy one another's company, discuss any topic and savor a casual intimate moment. Through the laughter, the style cut, the 'high and tight' the 'pompadour'. We can feel the sense of community that accompanies this ritual. I think Gregory says it most articulately in his statement, "A certain intimacy comes with grooming, and with that intimacy comes a trust, and with that trust comes a community."

Gregory Jundanian is an emerging artist focused on portraits. He concentrates on self-selected communities, or chosen family. His current project, Barbershop focuses on select neighborhood communities throughout Boston and combines environmental portraiture, candid documents, and a series of portraits based on the iconography of the hairstyle guide to portray a community typography. He is also at work on two other projects: The Dedham Project, a collection of portraits of his community of Dedham residents, and The Spoken Word, a collection of portraits created in collaboration with local area poets and poetry slammers. Jundanian completed a solo show of The Spoken Word at the South End Boston Public Library in 2016, and has been featured in a number of group shows both nationally and internationally.

Statement

Barbershop communities are famously tight, and as local outposts they have always fascinated me. From a young boy’s first haircut, to the smells of hair tonic and talcum powder, to the constant discourse on everything from politics to sex to football, they represent a coalescing of the masculinity particular to a specific neighborhood.

Barbershops are microcosms, each unique and welcoming in its own way. A photograph of a barbershop can be a glimpse into that society, its values, styles and sense of self. This project focuses on select enclaves throughout the Boston area and combines environmental portraiture, candid documents, and a series composite portraits based on the iconography of the hairstyle guide, all to depict a specific community.

A certain intimacy comes with grooming, and with that intimacy comes a trust, and with that trust comes a community.